Spring in Ulaanbaatar: Three Headaches the Snow Was Hiding

Winter is over, the smog has lifted — but what's emerged from the melting snow isn't pretty. In this edition of Little State Mural: Mongolia Updated, Anand breaks down the three issues currently plaguing Mongolia's capital city.

First: the kiosks are back. After the city decommissioned over a thousand street stalls last year, Prime Minister Uchral's speech about his "Chuluulye" business liberation initiative gave vendors the go ahead they needed to reclaim the streets.

Second: the e-bikes. Injuries from scooters and e-bikes have surged from 50 in 2022 to nearly 3,000 by 2025. The city isn't keeping pace with with world and rules for new tech can be slow, but they are there. But enforcement is another story.

And third: Mayor Nyambaatar who wants to build the 39-kilometer ring road expressway through the city — across the Tuul River — despite protests, environmental concerns have lost the battle. Prime minister Uchral issued an order to halt the contruction of this mega project until further notice a rare win for the people, but is it permanent?

Mongolia's new prime minister, Uchral Nyam-Osor, announced his new cabinet. Our thoughts on the reshuffling of the cabinet.

Takeaways

• Cabinet Reshuffle
• Coalition Changes

This is the first episode for the Little State Mural. Unlike the Great State Mural, this podcast will be shorter and more up-to-date but without long-form discussion.

In this episode, we give you some brief information on how Uchral Nyam-Osor became the 35th prime minister of Mongolia after resigning from his speaker role.Support us at Buy Me Coffee, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Great State Mural⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can listen to extra recordings as we briefly discuss the current status of the MPP's infighting and how it came about.